WASH Specialist (P-3) - Darien, Panama - Temp Appointment

Contract

This is a P-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 108,241 USD and 141,733 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a champion

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the Organization does — in programmes, in advocacy, and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — will not only give more children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Purpose for the Job:

The WASH Specialist reports to Emergency Specialist, who is at Level 3 for guidance and general supervision. The Specialist supports the development, preparation, management, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the WASH Sector in Emergencies within the country programme. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of the WASH-related output results in the country programme.

How can you make a difference?

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Programme development and planning
2. Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support for programme implementation
4. Humanitarian WASH preparedness and response
5. Networking and partnership building
6. Innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building

1.Programme development and planning

• Draft the WASH inputs for the situation analysis. Provide timely, comprehensive, and current data to inform WASH policy and programme development, planning, management, and implementation. Keep abreast of WASH sector development trends for maximum efficiency and effectiveness in programme design, management, and implementation in emergencies.
• Participate in strategic WASH sector in programme planning discussions. Prepare WASH donor proposals, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s global WASH strategy, Children on the Move in Mexico and Central America´s Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal, and the Country programme, as well as contingency government plans and priorities and the role of other external support agencies.
• Assist in the formulation of the WASH sector into outcome and output results, related indicators, baselines, targets, and means of verification. Prepare required documentation for programme reviews.
• Work with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies for the achievement of WASH output results in the country programme and Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of WASH with other UNICEF sectors for the achievement of the WASH sector into output results.
• Draft assigned sections of the annual work plan, in close cooperation with government and other counterparts.

2. Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results

• With other external support agencies, strengthen national and local government WASH sector monitoring systems, with a focus on WASH sector (behaviors), using bottleneck analysis tools available in the sector (WASH-BAT, CSOs, SDAs).
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare reports on results for required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.

• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in programmes and management, identify and document lessons learned.

• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to enable timely resolution by management/stakeholders.

• Prepare sectoral progress reports for management, donors and partners.

3. Technical and operational support for programme implementation

• Actively monitor UNICEF-supported activities on the field, surveys, and exchange of information with partners to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely interventions.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices in WASH, to support programme implementation.
• Plan for the use of technical experts from the Regional Office and HQ, as and where appropriate, in the WASH programme, through remote support and on-site visits.
• Participate in WASH programme meetings to review progress with the government, other sector agencies and implementation partners involved at various stages of WASH implementation to provide expert advice and guidance.
• Draft policy papers, briefs, and other strategic materials for use by management, donors, UNICEF regional offices, and headquarters.

4. Humanitarian WASH preparedness and response

• Prepare requisitions for supplies, services, long-term agreements, and partnership agreements to ensure UNICEF is prepared to deliver on its commitments for WASH sector and according to Humanitarian Action for Children - HAC.
• Contribute to the coordination arrangement for humanitarian WASH, for instant robust coordination in emergency.
• Ensure that all UNICEF WASH staff are familiar with UNICEF’s procedures for responding to an emergency.
• Take up support roles in emergency response and early recovery as and when the need arises.

5. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through the active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build the capacity of stakeholders to achieve WASH sector results.

• Prepare materials for WASH sector advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fund-raising.

• Participate in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda setting.

6. Innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building

• Lead the development, implementation, monitoring, and documentation of WASH action research and innovation (technical or systems).
• Prepare learning/knowledge products covering innovative approaches and good practices to support overall WASH sector development.
• Create and deliver learning opportunities for UNICEF WASH staff to ensure our sector capacity remains up-to-date with the latest developments.
• Contribute to the systematic assessment of WASH sector capacity gap analysis in collaboration with government and other stakeholders, and support the design of initiatives to strengthen capacities systematically.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity-building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education****:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, social sciences, behavior change communication, sanitary engineering or another relevant technical field.
• Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree are a strong asset.

Work Experience****:

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in WASH-related programmes for developing countries is required.
• One year of deployment in a developing country is required.

• At least one year of professional experience in a humanitarian situation (with UN-Govt-INGO) is required.

  Language Proficiency

• Fluency in Spanish and working knowledge of english is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, or Russian) is an asset.

Technical requirements

1. Rural water supply for low- and middle-income countries - including water safety, sustainability
2. Rural sanitation for low- and middle-income countries, incl sustainability; applying CATS principles
3. Urban sanitation for low- and middle-income countries, incl sustainability
4. Handwashing with soap
5. WASH-in-Schools and Health Centres
6. Menstrual hygiene management
7. National government WASH policies, plans, and strategies
8. Analysis of national budgets and expenditures for basic WASH and related advocacy

Expert knowledge of three components and basic knowledge of three components

1. Humanitarian WASH - preparedness
2. Humanitarian WASH - response and recovery

Expert knowledge of both components

1. Humanitarian WASH – coordination of the response

Expert knowledge

2. Programme/project management
3. Capacity development
4. Knowledge management
5. Monitoring and evaluation

Basic knowledge of components.

1. Human rights and WASH
2. Gender equality and WASH

In-depth knowledge

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

*Remarks*

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.